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How Much is Enough?

There was no shortage of complaining about the $147 million that Lee R. Raymond, retiring CEO of Exxon Mobil departed the company with. Exxon shareholders didn’t seem to mind. Why would they when large company CEO’s make on average 300 times what the average worker earns. This kind of excessive largesse has become commonplace.

But it pales in comparison to what hedge fund managers made last year. Somehow these amazing facts have remained hidden from view.

James Simons of Renaissance Technologies raked in $1.5 billion in 2005. The 26 hedge best paid fund managers earned $363 million on average, a figure up 45 per cent from $251 million average in 2004.